Google Drive review round-up: Critics take the new storage service for a spin

Google ended years of speculation and internet rumours this week after unveiling its new free-of-charge cloud storage Drive service. Here’s what the critics had to say about Google’s new online file-sharing system…

Share everything with Google Drive (Picture: YouTube/ Google)

Ever felt a bit strange e-mailing yourself to ensure you have all the documents you need wherever you go?

Well, the new Google Drive cloud-based office suite looks set to make it a thing of the past with its hard drive in the sky.

‘I’ve barely touched the surface of Google Drive, but I already know this is a ground-breaking service. Working on the cloud isn’t for everyone, but for those who are comfortable with trusting their work to the internet, Google Drive is going to be a very compelling offer.’

Keep all your important documents in one place with Google Drive (Picture: YouTube/ Google)Wired.comGadget Lab podcaster, Nathan Olivarez-Giles

‘If you’re not steeped in the Google ecosystem, or you’re perfectly happy using one of the many competing cloud services, I don’t see much reason to get behind the wheel of Google Drive just yet. Unless, of course, you refuse to pay for cloud storage, and you want to distribute your overflowing files across as many free services as possible.’

‘For users new to the concept of cloud storage, Google Drive may prove to be more popular in the long run. It has a built-in base of Gmail users, and Google Docs integration is pretty great for anyone who collaborates on documents and likes to be able to easily launch or sort those documents without working through a web interface 100 per cent of the time.

‘So this isn’t going to be a good place to put that 100GB music collection of yours. And it isn’t going to be a good place to back up your computer to the cloud like Amazon’s S3 or various cloud backup solutions. Google doesn’t want to be your backup, it wants to be your whole file system.’